Pray Before Work

Begin with Prayer

Martin Luther once said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

I love that! Luther was attuned to the fact that the Lord alone could equip him to accomplish his work, thus he went to the Lord in prayer before even attempting his To Do list.

I seek to do the same! The call to write God-honoring stories is a sacred one. I'm painfully aware of my inability to rise to the task. In and of myself, I don't have the time or talent needed to pen novels with the power to minister to people.

But He does... through me. Prior to sitting down for a writing session, no matter how little time I have, I begin with prayer. Doing so gives me an opportunity to acknowledge Him as the provider of the words, the vision, the focus, and the inspiration.

I often confess my weaknesses and worries to Him, then ask Him for His equipping, then pray verses in first person over my writing. Here are a few favorites....

1. "I pray that I would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon me so that I might be your witness." Acts 1:8

2. "You must become greater; I must become less" John 3:30

3. “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

4. "Thy will be done." Matthew 6:10

5. "I am the Lord’s servant" Luke 1:38

Continually surrendering my writing sessions to the Lord has made all the difference in my writing and in my faith journey.

May the Lord meet you when you write and empower every word!

- Becky Wade, award-winning romance author

https://beckywade.com/home/

God Is Our Provider

Those were some awesome prayers, Becky! It’s so amazing to know that there are creatives out there seeking first to honor the Lord. That alone is encouraging, when so much of what the world wants us to buy and read and see and do is very much the opposite.

But more than that, here we see a truth that anyone, not just writers, can cling to.

Our inabilities become unimportant in the hands of an Almighty God.

What great news!

Let’s look at a biblical example of how this is true. Because after all, we should always seek out the truth in scripture.

Moses is the classic example of someone not cut out for the work he finds himself in. He is called to be the spokesperson of a nation and he can’t speak well.

Talk about feeling inadequate.

He’s feels so inadequate that he tries to get out of it.

Exodus 4:10-12:

Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

“Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”

Moses is feeling like God’s got the wrong guy. He’s a little worried that he won’t be able to complete the enormous task God has given him (of freeing Israel from Egyptian slavery). But God reminds Moses of His sovereignty over creation (v. 11) and sends him on his way.

Moses objects again, and this time God provides a helper for Moses. Even in Moses’ less-than-obedient spirit here, God is merciful and still chooses to use Moses, providing just the thing he needs to complete the task God’s planned for him.

The Lord sends Aaron as the man who will do the public speaking, but He still wants to use Moses as his main communicator. Moses is the one who hears directly from God, then speaks what he hears to Aaron. That’s a huge job. God chose Moses as His mouthpiece: “he [Aaron] shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him” (Ex. 4:16). That last phrase is incredible. What Moses says is the direct word from God.

Despite Moses’ feelings of inadequacy, God still used him as His own mouthpiece. That’s pretty amazing.

Whenever you’re feeling not cut out for the job God has given you, remember that He can and does equip people for the things He has planned for them. In this example, God not only wanted Moses, a man “slow of speech” to speak His very words, He also provided Aaron as “mouth” for Moses.

When we face a task we feel incapable of completing, pray that God will make you capable.

But we can’t take this example from scripture and then assume more than what it reveals to us.

We can’t assume that God will bless our work the way we think He should or equip us to do something just because we want to do it.

We can’t assume that God wants us to pursue things we don’t feel good at, just to prove He can do things with us that are “miraculous.” That’s a little backward.

However, like Becky said, in whatever work or skill we pursue, we must recognize that God alone is the One who makes us good at anything. And without Him, we can’t hope to do anything good. Yes, I meant to use that word.

We might be able to do many things well, but without the mercy and grace of God poured out on our abilities, they won’t be good. As in, even the most highly acclaimed book in the world is of no value at all, eternally speaking, if it isn’t done in such a way as to please the Lord.

Only God can cause us to do things that please Him. If we attempt to please Him without His help, we’ll fail miserably.

So, before work or school or sitting down to write the next Christy-Award-winning-book (like our friend Becky!), pray that the Lord would equip you to do the task He’s planned for you. I love that Becky prays Acts 1:8, which asks for power so that we can be His witness. After all, no matter our profession, that’s our job.

Thanks, Becky for your inspiring words!

Check out this post on praying scripture if this is something new for you. Also, feel free to download the free ebook on praying through Ephesians that you can get at the bottom of this page.